Closure fastener



Oct. 21, 1958 R. E. BUcHHoLTz cLosURE FASTENER Filed April 18, 1955 1N VEN TOR.

United States Patent "ce CLOSURE FASTENER Reinhardt E. Buchholtz,Spokane, Wash. Application April 18, 1955, Serial No. 501,909

1 Claim. (Cl. 292-17) This invention relates to fasteners which are moreespecially intended for the doorsA of kitchen cabinets such as thecabinet of a refrigerator and the like, and has for its object theprovision of a catch or fastener which will serve adequately toreleasably fasten a refrigerator door and yet which will be adapted torelease the door in response to a predetermined opening pressure appliedto the door instead of its fastener actuating handle.

Periodically one learns of a child becoming trapped within arefrigerator or discarded cabinet, and it is therefore one object ofthis invention to provide a closure fastener which will open in responseto pressure on the door and therefore preclude the possibility of achild becoming trapped within the cabinet.

Another object of the invention lies in the provision of a door closureor fastener which is manufactured with a minimum number of parts whichmay be assembled with facility, and is therefore very practical as wellas economical for sale in a highly competitive market.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent during thecourse of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and inwhich like numerals are employed to designate like parts,

Figure lis a fragmentary horizontal cross section taken through the doorpost and a portion of a door of a refrigerator, and showing the closurefastener constituting the subject matter ofthe present invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical cross section upon a slightly enlarged scale andtaken substantially at the planes of line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a view similar to that of Figure 1 showing a modifiedspecies of the invention; and

Figure 4 is a further modied species of the invention shown in afragmentary horizontal cross sectional view.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, I disclose a cabinetindicated in general by the numeral 10, which is here seen to be of therefrigerator type, and includes a door post 11 and a swingable door 12.It will be seen that the refrigerator is shown to be of the typenormally fabricated from sheet metal and generally provided with anenamel coating, and, as seen, is conventionally manufactured with doublewalls, the space between the walls being provided for insulationmaterial. The cabinet is provided with the customary front opening andthe door 12 is made to fit against the perimetrical portions of thecabinet wall about the opening.

The cabinet 11 has secured thereto a catch pin 13 which in Figures l, 2,and 4 is seen to be provided at its outer end with a cylindrical portion14 disposed on a vertical axis, whereas that species disclosed in Figure3 is provided with a cylindrical roller- 15 also disposed on a verticalaxis. Since the roller 15 and portions 14 are cylindrical, they provideconstant cam surfaces on their peripheries, the purpose of which will besubsequently described. y

The fastener comprises a yoke 16 which has a flat portion 17intermediate its length, adapted to be secured to the door 12 as by spotwelding 18 or rivets 19. From the flat portion 17, arms 20 extend atright angles to the plane of the door 12, and in Figures l, 2, and 3,these arms are seen to be substantially parallel, while in Figure 4 thearms 20a diverge toward their outer ends. At their outer ends, the armsare provided with gripping dogs 21 which are adapted to cooperate withthe catch pin 13 to releasably fasten the door 12 i'n covering relationto the 'opening of the cabinet 11.

It will be noted in the drawings that the dogs of FiguresA 1, 2, and 4are provided with cylindrical rollers 22, the peripheral faces of whichconstitute cam surfaces cooperable with the peripheral cam surfaces ofthe elements 14, while Figure 3 discloses angular gripping dogs havingcam faces 23 adapted to cooperate with the roller 15 of catch pin 13.The arms 20 are resilient and are normally flexed inwardly so that theirnormal tension causes the dogs 21 to grip the catch pins 13 and fastenthe door, and t-he springing or flexing of the arms 20 is sutlicientlystiff to maintain the door 12 in the closed position for all normalopening pressures, but in the event a child becomes trapped within thecabinet 11, pressure on the door will cause the arms 20 to flexoutwardly, thus releasing the fastener and permitting the door to hingeopen.

To preclude the necessity of one applying unnecessary pressures to openthe door 12, I provide a means of flexing the arms 20 to a releasingposition. This means is seen to be a spreader bar 24 which may bepivoted on a vertical axis as at 25 and has rollers 26 bearing againstthe arms 20 or merely employs the blunted and arcuate ends of thespreader bar 24 as seen in Figure 3.

In Figure 4, the spreader bar 24 is seen to be disposed on a planeparallel to the plane of the door 12 and is not pivotally supported butis rigidly carried by a connecting link 26a which is subsequentlysecured to the handle 27. The handle 27 is preferably pivoted at 28 tothe door 12. In the species disclosed in Figures l, 2, and 3, theconnecting link 26a is pivotally connected at 29 to the spreader bar andat its opposed end is pivotally connected at 30 to the handle 27.

It will thus be seen that manual manipulation of t-he handle 27 bypulling thereon, as if to open the door 12, will cause the spreader bars24 to shift and flex the arms 20 to spread the gripping dogs 21 andpermit the door to open easily.

Compression spring 31 is seen to be disposed between the door 12 and thespreader bar 24, so that the spreader bar is normally urged to aposition wherein the arms 20 are released to flex inwardly.

In Figure 4 is will be seen that the arms 20a diverge from the portion17, and the spreader bar 24 shifting inwardly between the arms andbearing against the diverging arms, causes them to spread and releasethe dogs 21.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

A fastener for a cabinet door, said fastener comprising a resilient yokehaving a flat portion intermediate its length secured to said door andhaving arms which diverge from said flat portion and project away fromthe plane of said door; said arms having means on their outer ends forreleasably gripping a catch pin; a spreader bar disposed intermediatesaid arms and parallel to the plane of said door to spread said armswhen moved inwardly toward said door; a connecting link rigidly anchoredto said spreader bar and adapted for Patented ct. 21, 1958i'rectilinear` movement to shift said spreaderb'ar. toward tion `of saidhandle; arid a mpression s'pring disposed 5 ifnermediare i saidspreaderbar fadjsad-"doorinormlly biasing said spreader bar away therefrom.

Y. JvRferences Citedifin the `Tile of vthis patent UNITED STATES PATENTSWeaver June 9, 1885 Hammer L. Aug. 15, 1939 Freidag et a1. May 16, 1950

